God's Mountain of Blessings

 "I waited patiently for the Lord;

he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit

out of the mud and mire;

he set my feet on a rock

and gave me a firm place to stand."

(from Psalm 40)

Wilson Bentley, also known as Snowflake Bentley, a farmer, American meteorologist, photographer, was the first known person capturing and documenting detailed snowflake photographs.

With his camera he developed a method to photograph snowflakes on black velvet before they melted, discovering that each one has a distinct shape.

A major scientific contribution of his time was the theory that no two snowflakes were identical.

Reflecting on the belief of God as Creator leads me to meditate on the snowflake as a blessing of God’s creation.

Looking at a huge, plowed heap of snow at my driveway’s end, I can either see a pile of snow or a mountain of God’s blessings.

With continuing media coverage of violence, I feel like I’m in the “slimy pit with mud and mire.” described at the beginning of Psalm 40.

So, like the Psalm, “I am waiting patiently for the Lord; knowing he will turn to me and hear my cry.
    he turned to me and heard my cry. “

Amid violence, God's hope surrounds us with blessings, much like snow in my driveway’s end strengthening and encouraging us.

God’s hope and love Psalm 40 and in the mountain of snow is a reminder that God constantly surrounding us and as Psalm 40 concludes:

He set our feet on a rock
    and gave us a firm place to stand.

In the thick of discouraging media images of violence, there’ the mountain of hope in a driveway’s pile of God’s blessings.

Ride on, 3 Kings, Ride On

I hardly know what to write.

One horrifying video after another surfaces revealing a shocking act of shooting by ICE officers.

As I watch the videos, I realize that I’m seeing the forces of evil overpower, however briefly, the power of God.

I realize though that there is hope coming from the east in the story of the Three Magi.

The hope for me is their following the star, God's direction for them in their searching.

As the story goes, The Magi have ridden from the East, they arrive, give gifts and, under the direction of God return to their hometowns by a different route.

In other words, I seem as protectors of Jesus.

And here is my hope, no matter how disastrous the situation, no matter how much evil may seem to be overpowering God, there is a holy protection. 

As I pray each morning, as I read the scripture God reminds me of the protection and hope given through Jesus Christ.